README.md

Node.js

Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine. Node.js
uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and
efficient. The Node.js package ecosystem, npm, is the largest ecosystem of open
source libraries in the world.

Resources for Newcomers

Release Types

The Node.js project maintains multiple types of releases:

Current: Released from active development branches of this repository,
versioned by SemVer and signed by a member of the
Release Team.
Code for Current releases is organized in this repository by major version
number, For example: v4.x.
The major version number of Current releases will increment every 6 months
allowing for breaking changes to be introduced. This happens in April and
October every year. Current release lines beginning in October each year have
a maximum support life of 8 months. Current release lines beginning in April
each year will convert to LTS (see below) after 6 months and receive further
support for 30 months.

LTS: Releases that receive Long-term Support, with a focus on stability
and security. Every second Current release line (major version) will become an
LTS line and receive 18 months of Active LTS support and a further 12
months of Maintenance. LTS release lines are given alphabetically
ordered codenames, beginning with v4 Argon. LTS releases are less frequent
and will attempt to maintain consistent major and minor version numbers,
only incrementing patch version numbers. There are no breaking changes or
feature additions, except in some special circumstances. More information
can be found in the LTS README.

Nightly: Versions of code in this repository on the current Current
branch, automatically built every 24-hours where changes exist. Use with
caution.

Nightly builds are available at
https://nodejs.org/download/nightly/, listed under their version
string which includes their date (in UTC time) and the commit SHA at
the HEAD of the release.

API documentation is available in each release and nightly
directory under docs. https://nodejs.org/api/ points to the API
documentation of the latest stable version.

Verifying Binaries

Current, LTS and Nightly download directories all contain a SHASUM256.txt
file that lists the SHA checksums for each file available for
download.

The SHASUM256.txt can be downloaded using curl.

$ curl -O https://nodejs.org/dist/vx.y.z/SHASUMS256.txt

To check that a downloaded file matches the checksum, run
it through sha256sum with a command such as:

$ grep node-vx.y.z.tar.gz SHASUMS256.txt | sha256sum -c -

(Where "node-vx.y.z.tar.gz" is the name of the file you have
downloaded)

Additionally, Current and LTS releases (not Nightlies) have GPG signed
copies of SHASUM256.txt files available as SHASUM256.txt.asc. You can use
gpg to verify that the file has not been tampered with.

To verify a SHASUM256.txt.asc, you will first need to import all of
the GPG keys of individuals authorized to create releases. They are
listed at the bottom of this README under Release Team.
Use a command such as this to import the keys:

Building Node.js

Security

All security bugs in Node.js are taken seriously and should be reported by
emailing security@nodejs.org. This will be delivered to a subset of the project
team who handle security issues. Please don't disclose security bugs
publicly until they have been handled by the security team.

Your email will be acknowledged within 24 hours, and you’ll receive a more
detailed response to your email within 48 hours indicating the next steps in
handling your report.

Current Project Team Members

The Node.js project team comprises a group of core collaborators and a sub-group
that forms the Core Technical Committee (CTC) which governs the project. For more
information about the governance of the Node.js project, see
GOVERNANCE.md.